


More Than Blood

by amine



Series: Gen X and Gen Z [16]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Awesome May Parker (Spider-Man), Gen, Parent-Child Relationship, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 05:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16591574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amine/pseuds/amine
Summary: "Peter looked at her and her head tilted in that way that said she wasn’t bluffing and would press until he spilled. He bit his lip and lifted his fork to poke at his chicken again.'Is it bad if I think of Mr. Stark like a dad?'"





	More Than Blood

Even though he knew May didn’t mind one bit, Peter always felt a little awkward coming to talk to her when something deeper than surface level was bothering him. So, even though he wanted to bring it up to her, Peter spent most of the day finding excuses to do something else. As the day was getting closer and closer to when he’d take off on a Spider-Man patrol for the evening, he accepted that it was going to be one of those times where he’d chicken out completely.

He should have known that he wasn’t able to hide anything from her, though, because as they sat down for dinner—takeout, thankfully—she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Sooo are you going to tell me what’s up or are you going to keep stabbing your chicken until it’s paste?”

Peter dropped his fork, unaware that he’d been brooding enough to stab at his food, and he shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Mm hmm.” She looked him over with a scrutinizing gaze. “Do I have to have another ‘friendly chat’ with Tony Stark again? That Flash kid giving you a hard time? Your dream girl move away again? We can sit here playing 20 questions, Peter. I’ve got all night.”

Peter looked at her and her head tilted in that way that said she wasn’t bluffing and would press until he spilled. He bit his lip and lifted his fork to poke at his chicken again.

“Is it bad if I think of Mr. Stark like a dad?”

She clearly hadn’t been expecting _that_ response, because she rapidly blinked with her mouth hanging open. Peter’s cheeks flushed as she continued to wordlessly gape at him, making him contemplate the merits of fleeing the table and taking off on his patrol early. Just as he was thinking of the quickest route to grabbing his suit and escaping through a window, May finally cleared her throat.

“Why would that be bothering you?” Her expression was unreadable, which was more worrying than if she’d been angry about it.

“I just—I’m worried that maybe I’m betraying Dad and Ben by thinking of Mr. Stark as a dad. Or maybe that I’m only latching onto Mr. Stark because Ben’s gone. Like I’m replacing them or something. I’m…does it erase them if I get close to Mr. Stark?”

Her expression went from unreadable to sympathetic instantly, and she reached across the table to squeeze his hand. “Oh, Peter. You’re not betraying them. They would never think that.”

“Yeah, but—” He paused as he recalled a conversation he’d overheard at the compound that had prompted his misgivings in the first place. “Captain Rogers was telling Mr. Stark that it wasn’t okay for him to think of me as ‘his’ kid since we’re not related, and I’d only been dragged into his life because I’m Spider-Man.”

She was the one to bite at her lip that time, and she slowly sat back in her chair with a wry smile.

“You know…I wasn’t the one who carried you for nine months. I wasn’t the one who was in labor for fourteen hours before you finally decided to grace the world with your presence. I wasn’t there for your first steps or your first words. I didn’t take you on your very first day of school. You were already a brilliant and kind little boy when Ben and I became your guardians.” Her smile turned sad, and Peter’s heart ached at hearing a reference to his mother. Just as he was about to ask what she was getting at, she leaned back over the table again and very firmly took his hand. “But you’re still _my_ little boy—my _son_. I don’t think I could love you any more if you _were_ my flesh and blood child.”

Despite his efforts to blink them away, Peter’s eyes filled up with tears. It sometimes blew his mind that he’d been lucky enough to wind up with May as his aunt and second mother—that even if he didn’t think he deserved it at times, he’d been raised with all the love in the world thanks to May and Ben. “May, I—”

Her eyes were also teary, but she waved him off before he could speak.

“Anyway, my point is that you don’t have to be related to someone by blood to love them as your family. And you have such a big heart, Peter. You have plenty of room in there for all the dads and moms and aunts and uncles you’ll ever have in your life. Related to you or not. It doesn’t mean you love your dad or Ben any less.”

Peter nodded, his throat too tight to say anything more, and he got up out of his chair so that he could walk to the other side and pull May into a hug.

* * *

He waited until he and Tony were going to be working alone in one of the labs at the compound before he decided to talk to Tony about it. He knew it was probably going to be a good day to do it because AC/DC was blasting over the speakers as they worked.

Peter put his web shooters down and cleared his throat, and Tony spared him a glance as he tinkered with a peripheral for Bruce’s Hulk Buster armor.

“You know, I’ve been told that I have a big heart.”

Tony chuckled but kept working. “Do we need to get that checked out?”

Peter smiled. “I just mean that…it’s okay if you think of me as your son.”

The screwdriver Tony had been using clattered to the floor as his head shot up. “Sorry, what?”

Peter’s smile widened. “It’s okay if you think of me as your son, because…I think of you as my dad.”

An array of emotions passed over Tony’s face before he quickly grabbed the screwdriver and went back to tinkering. He sniffled, and Peter could swear he saw a shimmer to Tony’s eyes.

“Are you okay, Mr. Stark?”

Tony wiped at his eyes and shrugged. “Yeah, yeah. Great. I just have something in my eye. Got to make sure I clean up in here more often.”

With a chuckle of his own, Peter went back to tinkering with his web shooters. He wouldn’t press, even if the urge to do so was powerful. Tony’s occasional sniffles and frantic brushes at his eyes were answers enough for Peter.

Later, he knew for sure that Tony had accepted what he’d said in the lab when he overheard another conversation between Tony and Steve where Tony affirmed Peter as _his_ kid.

**Author's Note:**

> In this house we love May Parker.


End file.
